English Translation of Transcript

Today, I will tell you about the poem The crow and the Fox by Jean de La Fontaine. I will speak slowly, clearly and use everyday vocabulary to explain and then, to discuss the poem.
First of all, I’ll read the poem slowly. Then I will explain the vocabulary, and then I will tell you about the message of the poem and about the life of the author. Finally, I will read the poem again faster.

The Crow and the Fox by Jean de la Fontaine

Sign Up for Your Free French Audiobook

Almost 2 hours of beginner French audio recorded at 3 different speeds! 34 Pages PDF + Workbook

Your info will never be shared. You can opt out at any time.

Master Crow perched on a tree,
Was holding a cheese in his beak.
Master Fox attracted by the smell
Said something like this:
“Well, Hello Mister Crow!
How pretty you are! How beautiful you seem to me!
I’m not lying, if your voice
Is like your plumage,
You are the phoenix of all the inhabitants of these woods.”
At these words, the Crow is overjoyed.
And in order to show off his beautiful voice,
He opens his beak wide, lets his prey fall
The Fox grabs it, and says: “My good man,
Learn that every flatterer
Lives at the expense of the one who listens to him.
This lesson, without doubt, is well worth a cheese.”
The Crow, ashamed and embarrassed,
Swore, but a little late, that he would not be taken again.

Now, we will do the explanation of the text. I will read each verse and I will paraphrase – that is to say that I will explain the vocabulary.

Text Explanation

So, I will begin with the first verse.Maître Corbeau, sur un arbre perché
Master Crow perched on a tree
Here, the author uses the word Maître (Master), the noun master, it’s not the verb mettre (to put). It’s a name like monsieur. Here, it’s Master Crow, it makes the crow human. So, what is a crow? A crow is a big black bird that lives in the countryside. You know this bird. It’s a bird that lives everywhere in the world. Perched on a tree: the bird is perched in the tree. It is perched on a branch high up in the tree.

Second verse:
Tenait en son bec un fromage.
was holding a cheese in his beak.
In his beak: the beak, that’s the mouth of a bird where he holds the cheese. I am sure you know the word fromage…

Third verse:Maître Renard, par l’odeur alléché,
Master Fox attracted by the smell
Jean de la Fontaine uses the same noun, “Master”, to introduce his fox. Like Monsieur Fox. What’s a fox? A fox is a… (I hesitate) a kind of small dog that lives in the countryside. The fox is red and has a big white and red tail and big ears. The fox is known for its intelligence, it is sly, and it steals chickens from the farmers. So, this fox, it is attracted by the smell, in other words, the smell is mouth-watering and he is attracted by the smell of the cheese.

Fouth verse:Lui tint à peu près ce langage : said something like this:
Lui tint: “tint” it’s the verb tenir, tenir un langage : this means speak in a certain way. And the “lui” (him) it’s for the crow. So, the 4th verse means: speaks to him more or less in this manner.
“Hé ! bonjour, Monsieur du Corbeau.
“Well, hello Mister Crow.
The Fifth verse is easy. I think you understand. Note that Jean de la Fontaine introduces a “du Corbeau” (i.e. adds and article used only for Noble family names) which gives a very noble twist to the crow. So, the fox uses a form very polite, very formal to speak to the crow.

Sixth verse:Que vous êtes joli ! que vous me semblez beau !
How pretty you are! How beautiful you seem to me!
The fox is complimenting the crow. He says: I think that you are very pretty. I think that you are very beautiful.

Verse number seven:Sans mentir, si votre ramage
I’m not lying, if your voice
So, the fox says, he isn’t lying. He speaks the truth, without lying. Le ramage: is a song, the song of a bird. So, “if your voice”…

Verse number eight:Se rapporte à votre plumage,
is like your plumage
So, if your voice is like your feathers.

Verse number nine:Vous êtes le Phénix des hôtes de ces bois.”
You are the phoenix of all the inhabitants of these woods.”
A phoenix is an imaginary bird, a legendary animal. It’s a very beautiful bird, very colorful and it’s a bit like a God. So, the fox says: if your song is as beautiful as your feathers, you are the most beautiful bird in this forest.
Les hôtes de ces bois (The lodgers of these woods): that’s an inhabitant. And the woods are the forests. So, the fox highly compliments the crow. He tells him that he is handsome, he tells him that he sings fabulously well, and that he is the most beautiful inhabitant of the forest.

Verse number 10 shows a big change of scene. It’s no longer the Fox who speaks. The narrator tells us about the crow.À ces mots le Corbeau ne se sent pas de joie ;
At these words, the Crow is overjoyed;
When he hears the words of the fox, the crow is very very very happy.

Verse number eleven:Et pour montrer sa belle voix,
And in order to show off his beautiful voice,
To show the fox his beautiful voice, for the fox to listen to his song…

Verse number twelve:Il ouvre un large bec, laisse tomber sa proie.
He opens his beak wide, lets his prey fall.
The crow opens his mouth very very wide and the cheese drops.

Verse number thirteen:Le Renard s’en saisit, et dit : “Mon bon Monsieur,
The Fox grabs it, and says: “My good man,
So, the fox takes the cheese, he takes the cheese very quickly and speaks to the crow. And he says: My good man. It’s a change of tone… you (I hesitate)… it’s a change of tone. The fox, here, uses a superior tone of voice to speak to the crow. It’s very different from the first part of the poem.

So, verse number fourteen:Apprenez que tout flatteur
Learn that all flatterers
The cr… excuse me, the fox begins with the imperative: Learn – I am going to teach you. I am teaching you a lesson.

So, Learn that all flatterers… verse number fifteen:Vit aux dépens de celui qui l’écoute :
Lives at the expense of the one who listens to him.
My teaching is that all the flatterers live thanks to those who listen to them. What’s that “a flatterer”? That’s a person who compliments another person. But these compliments aren’t…(I hesitate), aren’t true. They lie to another person in order to get something. So, the fox explains to the crow, he tells him that flatterers live thanks for the people who listen to them.

Verse number (I hesitate)… well… Ten… Sixteen:Cette leçon vaut bien un fromage, sans doute. “
This lesson without a doubt is well worth the cheese.
This means, a cheese, that’s, without a doubt, surely a good price to pay for this lesson. The fox says: I just gave you a valuable lesson and the fox thinks that (I hesitate)… the… a cheese, that’s not too high a price to pay for this lesson.

Verse number seventeen:Le Corbeau, honteux et confus,
The Crow, ashamed and embarrassed,
So, ashamed and confused, these are adjectives that describe sentiments. Ashamed: that comes from shame, and shame, that’s what we feel when we regret something.
And confused: that’s a fairly old word to say that…(I hesitate) one feels sorry. One feels stupid. So, the crow feels stupid for having listened and for having believed the fox.

Verse number eighteen:Jura, mais un peu tard, qu’on ne l’y prendrait plus
Swore, but a little late, that he would not be taken again.
Jura (swore) – that’s the verb jurer (to swear). It means, to promise, so the crow promises a bit too late, “that he won’t be taken in any more” – that the flatterers won’t fool him anymore. That, (I hesitate)… well… he will not listen to the flatterers anymore and he won’t be deceived anymore.

Analysis

Now, that you understand the words, let’s speak about the message of the poem and the significance of this message within the historical context.
Who do the crow and the fox represent in 17th century society?

First of all, look at the way Jean de La Fontaine personifies his animals by giving them human qualifications “master”, “master Crow”, “my good man”.

So, when you think about a crow, you think about what? A crow is a big black bird of the countryside. It’s a damned bird. It is the friend of witches. Well (I hesitate)… It’s a symbol of death. The crow doesn’t sing, it caws – this means that (I hesitate)… he goes “caw, caw, caw”. It’s not at all a refined bird. It’s not elegant. But yet, the fox speaks to him as if he were a prince. He uses the words pretty, beautiful, twittering. He… (I hesitate)… In fact, he makes him even noble, when he says “Monsieur du Corbeau”. Finally, he compares him to a phoenix; this comparison is amusing as the phoenix is a legendary bird, well (I hesitate)… very colorful, in opposition to the… (I hesitate)… to the crow who is entirely black, and it’s (the phoenix is) a symbol of life – this is exactly the opposite of the crow! We are immersed in a situation of the burlesque theater.

The fox is also an animal very well known to the French. Primarily to the farmers, because as I already said, the fox steals the farmers chickens. One says in French: he is sly as a fox. The fox uses tricks, uses his intelligence to trick, to deceive people. And the crow is completely fooled. He absolutely believes the fox. The fox is a liar, a flatterer, and the morale of the fable sums up perfectly what he is : “Learn that all flatterers live at the expense of the one who listens to him”.

In this fable, La Fontaine criticizes two famous actors of the French 17th century stage. The courtier, who flatters and says everything that the people in power want to hear. And the persons in high places – like the crow perched high up on his branch – that listen to them, and at the end, who support them.

Author’s life

So, now, lets speak about the author. Jean de la Fontaine is born at Chateau Thierry on July 8th, 1621. His father was noble, but not his mother. He studies at the school of Chateau Thierry until the 3rd grade. He studies Latin but not Greek. And he will regret it as he takes his inspiration in antic texts.

In 1641, he enters the oratory, a religious school in Paris. But the life of a monk doesn’t interest him anymore than the scholastic work does. He leaves this school one and a half years later.

In 1647, his father marries him to Marie Héricart, who is 14 years old, when Jean is 28. It isn’t a happy marriage, and even when Jean has a son, called Charles, he is never a good husband nor a good father.

In 1649, he studies law and becomes a lawyer. And in 1652, he takes over from his father and becomes master of the waters and forests. When he can, he goes to Paris and meets up with his libertine friends. He is more and more interested in poetry. He reads Malherbe, but also Rablais and Bocasse. He translates also ancient texts that inspire him for his fables. Toward 1670, he begins to writes poems for Fouquet – who is a very powerful gentleman. The minister of finance under King Louis XIV – the “Sun King”. Jean becomes friends with Molière, Boileau and Racine who are very famous French authors. He writes many tales and fables. In total, Jean de la Fontaine wrote 243 fables. In 1684 he was admitted into the Académie Française and he died in 1695.

That’s it, the crow and the fox is a very famous poem in France. All the children learn this poem at school. In fact, it’s a fairly simple poem, fairly short – and it’s always one of the first poems that children learn.